Two brothers from east Trinidad have been convicted of murdering a man and attempting to murder his brother and cousin, after forcing them to help process their marijuana harvest over a decade ago.
John and Victor Flores were convicted of murder, two attempted murder charges and one for firearm possession at the end of the virtual judge-alone trial before Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas yesterday afternoon.
After delivering the guilty verdicts for the siblings, Justice St Clair-Douglas told them that they would face the mandatory death penalty of death by hanging at a later date.
However, he noted that their attorneys would still have to present submissions on the sentences they should receive for the lesser offences, as such was required despite it being a formality due to the sentence for the substantive charge.
Justice St Clair-Douglas adjourned the case to July 12, when he is expected to decide on the appropriate sentences for the men.
According to the evidence in the case, the siblings were accused of murdering Seecharan Sankar and attempting to murder Sankar’s brother Doodnath, also known as Anil, and their cousin Rohan “Johnny” Ramnarine on May 24, 2010.
Testifying in the trial in March, Doodnath and Ramnarine claimed that they left their home at Charuma Village in Biche to harvest green bananas from Ramnarine’s garden, which was located a short distance away.
Sankar claimed that they were in the process of harvesting the produce when they were confronted by the Flores brothers, who were armed with shotguns. He claimed that the brothers instructed them to drop their cutlasses and told them that they had come to kill Ramnarine to send a message to his (Ramnarine) brother, who was in prison at the time.
He claimed that the brothers then forced them to hike through a forested area and three marijuana fields before they arrived at a campsite at the peak of a small mountain.
Sankar claimed that the brothers forced them to trim the dried marijuana flowers for almost two hours before the older one, who he knew from the village, used Ramnarine’s cellphone to make a call.
He claimed that the phone was on loudspeaker and he recognised the voice on the other end as another villager identified as Alton, who he also knew.
He said that the brothers told the man that they had abducted Ramnarine and his two cousins, who happened to be with him at the time.
Sankar said that he and his relatives repeatedly pleaded for their lives to be spared but were ignored by the man on the phone, who allegedly said he and his brother were in “the right place at the wrong time.”
“Alton up and say ‘oh God, buss they skull too. Kill three of them’,” Sankar said.
He claimed after the phone call, John Flores removed the SIM card and destroyed it. He then pointed the gun at Ramnarine and shot him once in his chest before turning the barrel to Sankar’s brother and shooting him once in his back.
The gunman’s brother then shot in Sankar’s direction but he was grazed at the side of his head.
He claimed that he jumped from the cliff in a bid to escape the men.
He claimed that when he landed at the bottom of the cliff, he saw Ramnarine, who appeared to have also jumped after being shot.
Sankar claimed that he assisted Ramnarine in walking, as he was bleeding from his mouth and chest and they made their way to a river.
The duo then followed the river’s path until they made their way back to the village, where they contacted their relatives and the police.
After receiving medical treatment, Sankar claimed that he led his relatives back to the campsite where they found his brother’s body.
The Flores brothers were detained days after the incident. One was held in a taxi travelling to Mayaro and a shotgun, which was later identified as the murder weapon through ballistic testing, was found in his possession.
During the trial, both brothers denied any wrongdoing, as they provided alibis. John claimed that he went to a friend’s house in Maracas/St Joseph to collect some money, while Victor claimed that he was in Mayaro.
In deciding the case, Justice St Clair-Douglas rejected the alibis as he accepted the evidence of the surviving relatives.
John was represented by Rekha Ramjit, while Ramesh Deena represented his younger brother.
The case was prosecuted by Maria Lyons.
